The Honor of the Wild Horse
by Baron Zed
Summary: Ranma gets transported to the planet Sphinx in the far future by a poorly worded wish of Kuno's. Bored with the prospect of teaching watered-down martial arts to beginners, he joins the Royal Manticoran Navy. The Honor of the Queen time frame. Renamed from The Mustang and the Salamander.
1. Prologue 1: Sphinx

**Update 2 January, 2017** : I've changed the title from _The Mustang and the Salamander_ to _The Honor of the Wild Horse_. This is because Honor doesn't get nicknamed the Salamander until later in the series than the book this story is based on. Also as one reviewer points out, Mustang refers to something specific in the Honorverse that doesn't apply to Ranma in this story, so I've fallen back to the fan fiction standby, Wild Horse, as a nickname for Ranma. _The Honor of the Wild Horse_ also refers to the title of the book this is based on, _The Honor of the Queen._

* * *

Ranma Saotome was created by Rumiko Takahashi. Honor Harrington and her friends were created by David Weber. This is fan fiction created for fun.

* * *

 **Author's Note:** This fic is not related to my other fic, _A Pleasant Sort of Hell_ , other than having the same settings and an identical jumping off point for Ranma. The Wishing Sword is ideal for transporting Ranma to the future, especially to Sphinx, since Hexapumas would be Ranma's worst nightmare. It also is too early for Ranma to know the Mouko Takabisha, which I wanted to not have for this story. On the Honorverse side, this fic slides right into the second book, _The Honor of the Queen_ , which is where Grayson is introduced. Ranma slots into Carolyn Wolcott's position on the _Fearless_. I believe that this fic should be readable without knowing much about Honor Harrington. A little bit of knowledge about Ranma would be useful, but you can get by with the knowledge that he's a martial artist with a sex-changing curse.

I'm targeting a much more sci fi adventure feel for this fic than in _APSoH_ which basically just gave Ranma a tour of the highlights of the Honorverse. Ranma will be the only time traveler in this one and there won't be any romance.

* * *

Ranma smiled charmingly at Kuno and gushed, "Kuno-sempai, you're so manly!"

"Verily, it is so, My Pig-Tailed Goddess!" Kuno said, standing up straighter.

"Let me see the sword, Kuno-sempai," she said coquettishly.

"Certainly, My Love!" Kuno raised the Wishing Sword above his head. "Behold the instrument of the destruction of the Foul Sorcerer Saotome."

"I want to hold it, Kuno-sempai," she said.

"Nay, My Love," Kuno said condescendingly. "Though thou art indeed a warrior maid of some skill, this is a man's weapon. It is only fitting that it be wielded by the premiere example of manhood in our generation, the Rising Star of the Kendo World, the Blue Thunder of Furinkan High School, the undefeated Kuno Tatewaki, age 17!"

Ranma gritted her teeth and tried not to show her disgust at the supposed object of her affection. She fluttered her eyes and grasped her hands together to enhance her girlishness. "Please, Tachi-kun!" she wheedled. "So we can be together!"

Kuno looked like he might give in before steeling himself. "I will vanquish the Foul Sorcerer immediately so that nothing can stand between us and our love!"

He raised the sword above his head and thrust Ranma into his chest in a one-armed hug. Ranma tried to reach for the sword but was denied leverage. As she tried to wiggle free, he declaimed, "I wish that Saotome Ranma be banished from this earth to his personal hell for thousands of years!"

"What no!" Ranma cried as she was yanked out of Kuno's arms. Her last sight before she was swallowed up by a bright light was Kuno's startled face.

* * *

Ranma felt herself drop about half a meter. The surface she landed on was furry. She felt corded muscles under her hands. As she blinked her eyes to try and get her sight back, she heard angry hissing and yowling. She thanked her ancestors that the sound was not that of a certain furry plague upon the earth.

However, her relief was short-lived as her sight returned and she found herself latched onto the back of a distinctly feline looking creature and surrounded by two others. They were black, muscular creatures with six legs and very sharp-looking teeth. They were about twice as long as she was tall and looked like they out-massed her by a factor of 10, but the thing that worried her more than that was the feline cast to their face.

She felt the fear bubble up inside her. It came so quickly that she could not try to stop it even if she wanted to. Her conscious mind retreated as the Cat Fist took over.

* * *

Ranma awoke to the feeling of cool water streaming onto her. She found herself on a broad tree branch some distance above the ground. It was currently raining. The tree she was in blocked most of it, but she was unlucky enough to be right under one of the places that runoff streamed toward the ground.

She moved out of the stream and toward the trunk of the tree. Looking around, she could tell that the tree was different than any she had seen or heard about in Japan or China. The trees were very large and had broad trunks and branches that spread out almost horizontally. The trees seemed interconnected through the branches.

More concerning were those feline creatures. Akane had once shown her pictures of every type of feline on earth in an attempt to find the limits of her Cat Fist fears. None of them had looked like those creatures. More concerning was that she had never heard of any vertebrate animal, much less mammal, that had six legs. This place did not look like any type of hell that she had heard of, but it also did not seem like Earth.

Ranma wanted desperately to turn back to her normal self, but did not see how she could. She knew a couple of methods for starting a fire without matches, but they all required tools she did not have. She thought she could figure something out if she had a knife, but she did not. Even assuming she could start a fire, she had nothing that could contain water that did not burn.

The first order of business was to find people, if this place had them. Her limbs felt heavier than they should, but she could handle it easily. If nothing else, it made for a good training environment. She was starting to get hungry and did not know if she could eat the wildlife. She hopped down to the forest floor and began looking for traces of humanity.

After about several hours, Ranma finally found boot or shoe prints along a game trail. She followed the trail, occasionally seeing evidence of human presence until she came to a small building; it was roughly the size of the main room of the Tendo home. The walls of the building looked synthetic, but were much tougher than any plastic Ranma had seen. The door to the building had romanji characters on it arranged into three words inside a shield. The shield also contained three of the strange interconnected trees below the words. She thought they were in English because she recognized the word "Service." The building did have a large window on one side, but the glass was tinted and she could not see inside. She rapped on the glass, but got no response of any kind. Just to be sure, she also knocked on the door to a similar non-response.

After considering it for a few minutes, she decided to force the door. The door was solid and quite firmly locked, so she gathered her ki and then yanked. The door and frame deformed, but did not come free. She tried again and got it open.

The inside of the building looked like a studio apartment. There was a kitchen area, a bed, a work area, all in one room. The only other room was a bathroom with a toilet, sink, and an odd looking shower. After looking around, the first order of business was to see if she could find some hot water. She tested the handles at the sink in the kitchen area to see if they made water come out. To her surprise, one of the handles produced hot water almost instantly. She knew that some kitchens were plumbed for hot water, but they always took a minute or two to warm up. She decided this could not be a hell if it had hot water on demand. She adjusted the temperature using the other handle to get a pleasant yet effective temperature and then splashed her face to turn back to normal.

Pleased to be male again, Ranma looked through the kitchen area and found some sliced meat in the refrigerator and some bread in the cupboards. Not seeing anything more appetizing, he made a few American-style sandwiches and ate them.

After that, he examined the work area to see if he could figure out where he was. This consisted of a desk with objects that he did not recognize. He did recognize the English word "radio" next to a button. Shrugging Ranma pushed the radio button. Instead of music or talking, a good-sized TV screen above the button lit up. He had not recognized it as a screen at first because it was built into the desk and flat rather than curved like the TV screens he had seen. A woman's face appeared on the screen.

"Hello," she said in oddly accented English. "Who is this?" She continued speaking, but Ranma's English was not good enough to follow her. He figured that this was like some type of video telephone rather than the type of radio he had expected.

"Hello," he responded in the same language. He decided to use some of the relevant phrases that everyone learns when learning a foreign language. "My name is Ranma. I need help. I am lost."

She responded with more words that he could not follow. Pretty much all Japanese of his generation learned English in school, but his schooling was spotty and her accent was definitely unusual.

"Slower, please. My English not good," he said once the woman had stopped. "I not understand."

The woman paused before saying slowly, "You wait there, okay? Someone will come in one hour, okay?"

"Okay," Ranma responded. "I wait. One hour. Someone comes."

* * *

With nothing else to do, Ranma practiced kata outside while waiting for someone to come. He was incredibly surprised when a small vehicle without wings or rotors approached from the air. Did Kuno somehow send him into the future or was he dreaming?

A man and a woman got out of the flying vehicle and approached him.

"Ranma?" the man said. "Are you hurt?"

"Yes, I Ranma," he replied carefully. "I not hurt."

"What language do you speak?" the woman asked. She was holding a flat device about the size of a hardback book, but thinner.

"Japanese," he said.

The woman poked at her device and then said something incomprehensible to the man.

" _Where are you from?_ " came out of the device in very oddly accented Japanese.

" _I'm from Nerima in Tokyo,_ " Ranma responded.

" _No planet known as Tokyo exists in the database; did you mean Shin-Tokyo?_ " asked the device.

Ranma wondered if he was dreaming again.

" _Tokyo is on Earth,_ " Ranma responded. " _What year is it?_ "

" _The year is 1894 Post Diaspora,_ " responded the device. " _How did you arrive on Sphinx? Are there others in your party?_ "

" _Post Diaspora?_ " Ranma questioned. " _What's that in Common Era?_ "

" _The year is 3997 Common Era,_ " responded the device. " _How did you arrive on Sphinx? Are there others in your party?_ "

Ranma felt lost. It was supposed to be 1988. " _I don't know what Sphinx is or how I got here. I think I'm the only one._ "

* * *

Ranma's claim to be born in 131 Ante Diaspora (1972 CE) on Old Earth caused an uproar. The fact that he was genuinely confused about a lot of the technology that even people from poor, frontier planets took for granted, and that there was no record of his birth on Sphinx or his arrival led credence to the fact that something odd and inexplicable was going on. This was only multiplied when his Jusenkyo curse was discovered two days after he had been "rescued." He spent two very uncomfortable days being poked, prodded, and splashed by various doctors before Child Services insisted that they stop after he had been verified non-contagious. When no logical explanation could be discerned, his gender-changing condition was simply accepted and noted in his files.

The Sphinxian authorities ultimately decided to just accept his presence and placed him in a foster home. The couple he was placed with, Jim and Vanessa Miller, were nice enough, but Ranma had a hard time relating to them. While their were some people on Sphinx that were of Asian descent and even some that kept some superficial customs, Sphinx overall was very Western.

He learned that Sphinx was one of three planets that made up the Star Kingdom of Manticore. The government was a parliamentary monarchy, like Japan, but the unelected, hereditary House of Lords controlled the budget and selected the Prime Minister. The Queen of Manticore had more real power, but less respect than the Emperor of Japan did. This is not to say that the nobles ran roughshod over the rest of the kingdom; overall the standard of living for the average person on Sphinx was very high.

The Millers insisted that Ranma attend High School after his English had improved enough. Vanessa quickly determined that Ranma was very competitive and persuaded him to do well in school using reverse psychology. Ranma figured out what she was doing before too long, but when he confronted her about it, she told him that if he were book smart, people would not be able to trick him like that. This led to a discussion about his life in Nerima, and Vanessa pointed out how much he had let Nabiki and others push him around and manipulate him, which could be ameliorated if he were knowledgeable about more than just martial arts.

After the Millers became frustrated with all the water accidents in their home, they insisted that Ranma experiment to see if there was anything he could do to "placate" the curse. To his irritation, he found that if he spent half his time as a girl, the number of water accidents he had diminished to almost nothing. More psychology from Vanessa had him alternating days as male and female. He found that alternating days made water accidents disappear. He decided that he did not actually mind being a girl _that much_ unless she had to deal with too many boys flirting with her. She found she enjoyed receiving it in small amounts because it stroked her ego, but Ranma was a firm heterosexual male and unreasonable persistence made her angry. Vanessa also managed to intimidate Ranma into developing feminine modesty. The Miller woman's personality had the persistence of Nabiki with the serenity of Kasumi. Ranma stood little chance against her in an argument even if one did not consider her degree in psychology.

Ranma graduated High School in the top ten percent four years later. By the time he did, he had decided to become a citizen of the Star Kingdom. He had no real way to make it back to Earth and nothing was waiting for him there if he did.

Yawata Crossing, where the Millers lived, had many martial arts studios. However, none of them taught anything like Indiscriminate Grappling. It was mostly vanilla karate, tae kwon do, or kung fu. There were a few schools that he had not encountered before that incorporated Western martial arts styles, but nothing that really excited him. He tried teaching as a part time job, but the few studios that were willing to hire him without certifications insisted that he "dumb it down" for the students. He idly considered starting his own studio, but found out that he could not get a loan without a teaching certificate. Further thought made him realize that he would almost certainly have to start off teaching beginners, which he knew by then he would find incredibly boring.

The Millers encouraged him to attend college while also subtly encouraging him to move out so that they could help someone else who needed it more than he did. He considered it, but while he no longer hated school to the extent that he had hated Furinkan, the idea of studying to get a desk job did not appeal to him.


	2. Prologue 2: Decisions

Ranma was wandering downtown Yawata Crossing, trying to figure out what he wanted to do with his life, when he encountered an Armed Forces Recruiting storefront. The Manticoran military was ramping up due to threatening movements by the People's Republic of Haven. It amused him that politicians were still using the same naming formulation that had originated in communist China with the same sincerity. The one thing his father had taught him that really resonated with him was that a martial artist protected those who could not protect themselves. He thought he would see what the Marines had to say.

The recruiter had him take an aptitude test and transfer his high school transcript.

"Your scores and your transcript are excellent, Mr. Saotome," the Marine recruiter, Lt. Hastings, said. "However, I'd be remiss if I did not make sure you knew that the Marines uphold a very stringent physical fitness regimen."

Ranma snorted. "No offense, lieutenant, but I'm a high-caliber martial artist. The Marine's regimen is nothing compared to what my old man put me through."

Hastings was a tall, very muscular man. He was the very image of a Marine. It was probably why he was chosen to be a recruiter. The lieutenant quirked an eyebrow, secure in his physical superiority.

"Care to arm wrestle, lieutenant?" Ranma said with a smirk.

The Navy recruiter, a petite woman with blonde hair and a lieutenant's collar insignia, watched with interest.

Ranma won the match handily, but did not go out of his way to make the bigger man look bad. "I'm much stronger than I look," Ranma said.

"I think we can find a sponsor for you to attend the Academy, Mr. Saotome," Hastings said, grinning wryly.

Ranma was feeling pleased and a little bit excited when he realized that he had not mentioned the major complication in his life. At least his Jusenkyo condition was mostly accepted by people he had encountered on Sphinx once they got over the initial oddness. With a sigh, he said, "I have a medical condition of sorts. It doesn't hamper my ability to fight, but it's very odd and somewhat embarrassing to me."

His identification card had his female picture and description as an alternate setting that could be accessed by pressing his picture for five seconds, but he had not thought to show the recruiter.

"What kind of condition?" the Hastings asked warily.

The Navy lieutenant looked over curiously.

"It's best if I just show you," Ranma said. "You won't believe me otherwise."

He took out his two water bottles. One had a chiller built into it and the other was equipped with a heater.

"I picked up this condition in a remote area. The people who lived nearby called it a magic curse. I don't know what causes it and none of the doctors I've seen have been able to characterize it. It's activated by cold water and deactivated by hot water." Personally, Ranma had no issues with calling it magic, but he knew the concept of magic offended most Manticorans.

Ranma dumped about a cup of water on his head and shrank 13 centimeters as he changed into his female form. He was on the short side for a Sphinxian in his male form at 168 centimeters, but it was much worse at her female height. Neither of her forms had changed much, if at all, in the last four years thanks to prolong, so she still had the body of a sixteen year old that looked twelve, if you discounted how prominent her modest-sized bust looked on her small frame, despite being twenty.

"Is this some kind of joke?" demanded Hastings irritatedly.

Ranma sighed. "Go to the Crown's identification verification site and search for Ranma Saotome. They have an entry that explains that yes, I am both the man and the woman."

While Lt. Hastings grabbed his datapad to do that, the Navy lieutenant, her name tag said Casper, asked, "Is that just cosmetic?"

Ranma sighed again, "No, I'm a fully functional woman like this."

"Menstruation, too?" she asked.

Ranma nodded. "Yes, although thankfully I only get it half as often since I spend about equal time in each body."

"Where does the extra mass go?" Casper asked.

Ranma shrugged. "Casual examination can't tell and I have no desire to be a guinea pig."

"This checks out," Hastings said. "I think it won't be an issue, since we enlist women to all positions as long as they can handle the physical strain."

Ranma smirked. "I can beat you in arm wrestling like this too."

Hastings chuckled. "You'll forgive me if my pride doesn't allow me to find out. I _do_ need to send this up the chain of command to make sure I'm not missing anything. I wouldn't want to promise it won't be an issue when there might be something I'm not seeing. Come back tomorrow and I'll have an answer for you."

* * *

When Ranma returned the next day, Hastings said, "I've gotten an answer for you Ranma. The Corps is interested in having you as a Marine, but has some concerns about your form shifting at inopportune moments. Specifically, since your female form is so much smaller than your male form, there is concern about gear being lost or hampering you during a form shift due to sudden bad weather during an assault. The Corps would require that all active duty time would be spent in your female form since running into hot water at an inopportune time would be much less likely. This requirement may be relaxed, if you can prove it is not a detriment, but the personnel department was not willing to guarantee what would have to happen to relax the requirement."

Ranma rocked back on her heals. Her current practice was to alternate days in each body. Could she deal with being a man only on her time off? She could. Did she want to? No, she did not.

Casper cleared her throat and said, "I also took the liberty of investigating what requirements the Navy would place upon you if you joined up with us. Since we do not deal with weather, the Navy would not place restrictions upon you as long as you acted professionally. The only caveat is that you would have to purchase two sets of uniforms if you intended to appear on duty in both forms. Both the Navy and the Marine Corp expect their personnel to appear neat and professional at all times while on duty."

"Do you have a preference for forms?" Hastings asked. "I noticed you've appeared to us as both."

"I was born male and prefer it," Ranma said, "but water accidents happen to me if I don't spend about half my time as female. My foster mother convinced me it was better that I was better off biting the bullet and accepting my girl half rather than trying to fight it and being inconvenienced by sudden changes all the time. My practice for the last three or so years has been to alternate days for the most part."

Both lieutenants laughed. "If that effect is real, then your commanding officers will definitely require you to spend enough time as a woman to avoid it," said Casper.

"I'll be honest, Lt. Hastings," Ranma said. "Spending most of my time as a woman is pretty much a non-starter. I don't hate it so much anymore, but I have definite preferences for the male me. On the other hand, I'm more of a hands-on type of person. I don't know if the Navy would be what I want."

"The Navy has lots of positions and job types, Ms. Saotome," Casper said. "Let me show you some videos."

* * *

"What did you find out from the recruiters, Ranma?" asked Vanessa.

Ranma sighed. "The Marines will require me to be a woman most of the time if I join them. The Navy said they would be less strict in that regard, which is a plus for them. I didn't talk to the Army, but I imagine it would be similar to the Marines."

"What do you think about joining the Navy?" she asked.

"The recruiter showed me what opportunities there are and I'll admit that I think I would really enjoy being a shuttle pilot—especially for combat drops," Ranma said. "The problem is that that opportunity would not be available at each posting and eventually if I stayed with the Navy, I'd eventually become too high-ranked for that job."

"How likely is it that you would get to do that?" asked Vanessa.

"Pretty decent for just being a shuttle pilot—all I'd need to do is qualify while I'm at the Academy. To pilot during assaults. . ." She grinned. "I'd have to show them I'm the best." If there was one thing Ranma liked, it was a challenge.

* * *

Ranma grumbled to himself. He had decided to try and apply to the Naval Academy, but they required a sponsor who was a current or retired Navy Commander or above. Casper had given him a list of people willing to sponsor, but most of them were unavailable or had already sponsored someone.

"Still having problems finding someone?" Jim asked.

"Yeah," Ranma said. "Too many people are on vacation because it's Christmas time. I only have a week to apply to make the next school year, so I can't just wait for them to get back."

"I have an acquaintance who was a Commander in the Navy before he retired," Jim said. "He was a surgeon, so I don't know if he would count or not."

"The form doesn't say anything other than must be Commander or higher and that retired is fine," Ranma said.

* * *

Ranma walked into a good-sized office at the Duvalier Medical Association in Duvalier City. It had taken him an hour flight in his aircar to get there from Yawata Crossing. A tall man with a solid build sat behind a desk. She frowned as he stood up was wishing that she had changed into her birth form despite it being a girl day.

The man laughed as he he held out his hand. "I recognize that look. If you can believe it, my wife is even shorter than you. I'm Alfred Harrington. It's nice to meet you, Ms. Saotome."

"Call me Ranma, Dr. Harrington," she said, shaking his hand. "Even after having my condition for about five years, it still makes me uneasy to be called 'Ms.'"

"Very well, Ranma," he replied. "As you're not here as a patient, you can call me Alfred. I do admit to being a little shocked that you would venture into a medical establishment after the uproar you caused a few years ago. I'm pleased to meet you."

Ranma smirked and said, "I've fought my way out of worse."

Alfred laughed. Ranma decided she like the doctor. He had an easy, congenial way about him.

"I was a little surprised that you called me for sponsorship to Saganami Island," Alfred said. "Surgeons almost never sponsor people since physicians enter the service via a different route."

Ranma frowned. "I just decided I wanted to enter the Navy in the last couple of days and applications to the Naval Academy are due at the end of the week. I couldn't find anyone on the recruiters list who could still sponsor and was available. My foster father knew you and here I am."

"You realize that my sponsorship might not get you in since I never attended there, right?"

She shrugged. "It's better to try and fail than to not try. I figure if not this year, then the next."

'Ranma Saotome doesn't lose,' she continued in her mind. She rarely vocalized the phrase nowadays because it offended most people, but it was still a guiding principle in the way she approached things.

"Besides," she continued aloud, "I've done a little bit of research about you and I think your opinion will be better received than most physicians."

He smiled deprecatingly. "Maybe if you were applying to Marine Boot Camp." He had been enlisted in the Royal Manticoran Marine Corps and received the highest honor reserved for enlisted personnel, the Osterman Cross, before becoming a surgeon and a naval officer.

Alfred asked her about why she wanted to become an officer in the Royal Manticoran Navy and she described her martial arts philosophy and how she wanted to make a difference. He asked her about her goals and what role she felt she would fulfill in the Navy. He described his own experience in both the Navy and the Marines.

After twenty minutes of talking he said, "Well, Ranma. I think you're a fine young person. I would be pleased to sponsor you for the Academy. I admit that I wished I could have sponsored my daughter, but she wanted a more traditional officer to be her sponsor."

"Your daughter is in the Navy?" Ranma asked.

He nodded proudly. "She's a commander. Her current post is as the captain of a destroyer."

Ranma smiled back. "You must be proud of her."

"I am. I am," he said.

"Do you mind if I see you transform?" he asked with a little bit of hesitation. "I've read the journal articles and seen a video, but. . ."

Ranma laughed. "You've humored me, so I suppose I can humor you."

* * *

 **Author's Note:** I know there will be some who are disappointed that I didn't flesh out the Millers more, but to get through the Prologues quickly. Time skip to the Beginning of _The_ _Honor of the Queen_ and the start of Chapter 1 next time.

For the curious, I've decided that male Ranma is 5'6" and 135 lb. Female Ranma is 5'1" and 90 lb. Weber uses metric, so in story will be in centimeters and kilograms.


	3. Chapter 1: Fearless

Ensign Ranma Saotome looked down at Sphinx, which loomed large out the viewing window of the _HMSS Vulcan_. He had not been down to the planet since leaving for Saganami Island to attend the Royal Manticoran Naval Academy on Manticore almost five years ago. Strictly speaking, there was nothing really tying him to Sphinx. He still corresponded with the Millers and a couple of school friends, but that had lessened once he left the Academy. He had had a month's leave after finishing his Middy cruise, but since he did not maintain a residence on Sphinx, the Navy had dropped him off on Manticore and he would have had to fly over at his own expense. The only reason he was on the space station in Sphinx orbit currently was that his first real posting, the heavy cruiser _HMS Fearless_ , was parked at _Vulcan_ for a refit. He was assigned as the Second Assistant Tactical Officer.

Strangely, his new Commanding Officer was Alfred Harrington's daughter Honor, who was a minor celebrity for her defense of the Basilisk System three years previous. The People's Republic of Haven had even put on a big show trial, issuing her a death sentence _in absentia_ for the "murder" of the crew of their supposed merchant ship. This was despite the evidence that they were trying to use the disguised vessel to take over the Manticoran protectorate on Medusa, Basilisk's sole habitable planet. Medusa had been lightly defended due to the anti-expansionist faction on Manticore. The Peeps spent almost as much money on publicity, internally and externally, as they did on their military. Between their PR machine, military, and welfare program, Haven was continuously broke which was why they were continually trying to expand via conquest. The Manticore System's wormhole junction was too tempting a target for them not to try for eventually.

He glanced at his watch and moved away from the view window. He had learned that the military discouraged being early—nowhere near as much as being late, but being precisely on time would impress his new command more. He had adjusted his schedule so that today would be a "male day" because he found that people had a harder time taking him seriously if their first impression of him was as the petite, overly-cute redhead.

He approached the Marine sentries that guarded the entry tube to the _Fearless._ The Marines saluted him and he returned the salute.

"Ensign Ranma Saotome to join the ship's company, Corporal," he said as he handed the corporal in charge the chip with his orders. The corporal inserted the chip and glanced at the display.

The corporal saluted him and said, "Welcome aboard, Ma'am."

Ranma rolled his eyes, but ignored the man. Everyone thought they were funny calling him "Ma'am" when he was male. His orders certainly had images of both of his bodies and rumor had probably already spread his condition to many of his new shipmates. Ranma had long since given up being offended by a title that the Regs said enlisted personnel were required to address him with half the time.

He swam down the zero-gravity tube and then swung out onto the deck. He was met by a man with a Senior-Grade Lieutenant's double gold diamonds on his collar. Unless he missed his guess, this was Lt. Rafael Cardones, the Tactical Officer and the man he reported to directly. This was the reason he wanted to be exactly on time, so he did not call his boss away from a project or make him wait.

Ranma saluted and asked, "Permission to come aboard to join the ship's company, Sir?"

The lieutenant returned his salute and said, "Granted, Ensign Saotome. I'm Lt. Cardones. Come with me and I'll take you to meet the XO."

The Executive Officer was in charge of personnel on the ship, which allowed the Captain to direct strategy and tactics. Cardones led him to a door with a plaque that said:

 **Lieutenant Commander Andreas Venizelos**

 **Executive Officer**

Cardones knocked on the door and a muffled voice called, "Come in."

The lieutenant opened the door and led Ranma in. Venizelos stood up as Cardones and Ranma saluted him. He returned their salute. Ranma was slightly amused to note that his new XO was slightly shorter than him, which was unusual. His traitorous subconscious reminded him that Venizelos was still almost 10 centimeters taller than his other body.

"Rafe," he said, nodding to Cardones. He looked at Ranma and said, "Good morning, Ensign Saotome," he said. "Welcome aboard the _Fearless_."

"It's a pleasure to be here, Sir," Ranma said respectfully.

"I admit that I'm not sure what to think about the. . . special condition noted in your personnel jacket," said Venizelos.

Ranma was always irritated by the inevitable conversation about Jusenkyo, but was practiced enough not to let it show.

"I've learned to live with it, Sir," he said. "It doesn't affect my performance and only causes problems if I try and avoid turning female."

"What kind of problems?" asked Venizelos.

"Water seeks me out if I don't regularly change, Sir," he admitted.

"Up to?" asked the XO.

"Breaking pipes, Sir," he responded.

"Has this been verified?" asked Cardones.

"Not rigorously, Sir," Ranma admitted. "My foster mother got tired of cleaning up messes and convinced me to alternate days as male and female. It hasn't been a problem since then."

"Can you demonstrate the change?" Venizelos asked.

"I can, Sir," he replied, "but I would prefer not to while in uniform. It's too tight in some places and too loose in others. It's very uncomfortable to me and embarrassing to everyone in sight, Sir." He added a small smile. "I can change into exercise clothes if you'd like to witness the change in person, Sir."

"I think that would be best," he said. He glanced at his data pad. "Be at the gym at 2000 hours standard. Lt. Cardones can show you where it is. I'll invite the Captain and Chief Medical Officer to be there."

Venizelos dismissed them and Cardones took him to a small conference room where they discussed Ranma's duties. None of them were new. During his Midshipman's cruise, he had worked closely with the Assistant Tactical Officer. The only real difference was that the larger size of the ship meant their were more systems under his control.

Cardones led him to his small quarters. It contained a bunk with some drawers underneath it, a desk built-in to the far wall, an aisle with enough room to change in, and little else. Still, it gave him some privacy. The one advantage to taking his Snotty cruise on a destroyer had been that he was the only Midshipman and had the Midshipman's quarters to himself. These were the types of quarters he could expect until he became a lieutenant commander, with some variation based on the size of the ship.

"I'll come get you at dinner time and show you to the mess, Saotome," Cardones said.

"Thank you, Sir," he replied.

* * *

After dinner, Ranma changed into his old standby red and black silks. They were still his preferred exercise clothes when he was on leave. On ship, he had taken to wearing the exercise clothing the Navy issued. However, the silks were less baggy and worked better for his female form than his male form's standard exercise clothing, which was mostly cotton or a close substitute. The only real change he had made to his old martial arts outfit was that the undershirt he wore was a stretchy tank top that kept him more or less modest while he was a girl. He grabbed his pack with his water bottles and exited his quarters.

Cardones raised an eyebrow at Ranma's outfit.

"This was my preferred outfit when I was about 16 and first got my condition, Sir," Ranma explained. "It's loose enough and light enough that I could still move in it despite dropping 13 centimeters and 20 kilograms. I got so used to it that I instinctively tightened my belt without paying attention a lot of the time."

"You weigh less in your other body?" Cardones asked, shocked.

Ranma laughed. "I don't know how to explain it either, Sir."

Cardones shook his head. "I've invited the Assistant Tactical Officer, Lt. Harris, and the three Middies to the demonstration, since you'll be working with them more often than anyone other than me."

Ranma nodded.

The gym was the largest open space on most RMN ships. The exercise machines could be stowed into the walls to make a full-sized basketball court. The destroyer he had served on for his Middy cruise had been too small to support a full-sized court, but had still had a half-sized one. The gym also doubled as a meeting room for when large numbers of the crew needed to come together in person. It was too small to fit the entire crew, even if the Regs had permitted leaving the watches empty, but it still allowed for good-sized gatherings and debriefings.

As Ranma had mostly expected, there were more people waiting for him than the Captain, XO, Medical Officer, Harris, and the Middies. It appeared that the entire command staff, including several of the Marine Officers were there, as well as quite a few of the senior non-coms. It irritated him slightly that he was being made a spectacle of for something that he had due to chance. Showing off his skill he enjoyed, showing off his _unexplained_ _medical condition_? He had mostly evolved beyond thinking of it as a curse, if only because talking about it as a curse made him sound like a superstitious primitive to many Manticorans.

He looked around for the Captain's white beret, but did not see it. A few moments after he arrived, he saw her striding in. She was tall with a slight Chinese cast to her features. On her shoulders rode a treecat. Having lived on Sphinx for over four years, Ranma had seen one before when a Ranger who had been adopted visited his High School. His foster mother had helped him with the Cat Fist somewhat. Without Shampoo or the normal Nerima hijinks, he had not had a reaction since his close encounters with the hexapumas. Luckily, treecats, despite their name, were not feline enough to trigger a reaction although it still made him a little uncomfortable.

Captain Harrington glanced at the small crowd and nodded to Venizelos. She picked out Ranma and said with a wry grin, "I apologize for making a spectacle out of your condition, Ensign Saotome, but I think that getting this out of the way and letting a large number of people see will be less disruptive in the long run."

"It's not a problem, Ma'am," he replied. He shrugged off the impulse to salute, since he was out of uniform. He could see her point, even if he did not know whether she was right or not.

Harrington turned to the Chief Medical Officer, Lieutenant Commander Fritz Montoya, and said, "Fritz, do you need anything from Ensign Saotome?"

Montoya shook his head and said, "His medical records already have more information than I can extract here." He grinned. "BuPers has notes in his file requesting that new ships not poke and prod Saotome every time he gets transferred."

The entire group laughed at that. Ranma was pretty sure that the letter his foster mother wrote on her office stationary had something to do with that note in his file.

"Go ahead, Saotome," the Captain said.

"Cold water turns me female and hot water turns me back, Ma'am," Ranma said. He took out his cold water bottle and poured it on himself. The familiar tingle washed over him and she instinctively tightened her belt.

"I never expected physics to be so casually violated," Venizelos muttered in the stunned silence.

Ranma chuckled. "I took it rather poorly myself, the first time it happened, Sir."

"How did it happen?" asked Montoya. "Your file does not give any explanation."

Ranma shrugged. "I'm either from the past or the past of an alternate universe. The scientists who interviewed and examined me when I first appeared on Sphinx via an unexplained and unreproducible phenomenon nine years ago couldn't decide which. I received my condition from a place on Old Earth called Jusenkyo in the year 115 Ante Diaspora."

Her audience all stared at her the Major Ramirez, the Marine CO, said, "That would be pretty unbelievable if I hadn't just seen a man turn into a woman and drop over 10 centimeters in height and at least 15 kilograms in the process!"

Ranma shrugged and said, "I have trouble believing my life a lot of the time and I've lived it."

The audience laughed again.

Captain Harrington said, "Alright, people. BuMed says that Ensign Saotome is a fully-functional female when female and male when she is male. BuPers says to treat her as whatever gender she is at the moment. I expect everyone to behave professionally. I don't expect any problems concerning Saotome's special condition, but if there are any unforeseen issues, I want them brought to the Exec or myself as soon as practical. Pass what you saw and heard here to those in your departments and sections, but tell them not to bug Saotome about it. Anything further concerning this?"

The group was silent.

"Alright then," she said. "Let's be about it."

* * *

 **Author's Note:** In this fic I elected to have Ranma not try to hide his origins or his curse as opposed to hiding both in _APSoH_. _APSoH_ was kind of crack-ish in the lengths he went to hide it while still trying to have it both ways. I think this approach is more realistic, but less funny.

Regarding the title, the Salamander is one of Honor's nicknames, given her by the press for always being "where the fire is hottest." The Mustang is of course our favorite Wild Horse. I've come to the conclusion that Honor hasn't been given the nickname yet by _The Honor of the Queen_ , so I may change the title or I may not.


	4. Chapter 2: Heading to Grayson

The next day before she went on duty, Ranma looked up what hours the gym was configured for martial arts. After breakfast she headed their to work out. While Ranma preferred to meet people first as a male in most cases, she preferred to expose people to her martial arts first as a woman because it was more amusing. It was also soon enough that she might get lucky and find people that had not heard about her _medical condition_.

The gym had been partitioned so that people could still use the exercise machines. She entered the martial arts segment and shyly stood against the wall while she picked out her marks. Ranma had always been a good actor as long as she had not realized she was "acting." She had broken her conscious acting blocks after she realized how much fun it was.

Most of those in the gym were Marine enlisted and non-coms. She carefully kept the smirk off her face and broadcasted a wistful look.

A large black man approached her. He wore the exercise clothes issued to Marine enlisted personnel. If she were to guess, he was probably a sergeant.

"Good morning, Ma'am," he said. From her clothes, he could tell she was a Navy officer, although one with low rank due to her age. "Do you have experience in martial arts?"

"I have some!" she gushed. "I passed the test for White Belt in karate!" This was true; she had taken it out of curiosity once. Limiting herself to only White-Belt-level karate had been an amusing experiment.

"Would you like to learn some Coup de Vitesse?" the man asked.

"I would love to!" she said.

Coup de Vitesse was an aggressive, striking style of martial arts that was designed for taller people with long reach. It was highly favored in the Star Kingdom, especially by those in the military. In theory, it was a horrible style for Ranma—especially when she was a woman. In practice, Ranma was fast enough that she could pull it off if she wanted to, but she preferred other styles.

The Marine led her to a vacant marked-off area. "I'm Sergeant Cleveland," he said.

"Ensign Saotome," she returned.

Cleveland demonstrated some simple moves to her. Her pride would not let her actually flub the moves he showed her, so she simply copied him slowly and carefully. After about fifteen minutes, he asked her, "Would you like to spar and see how it works in practice? I'll go easy on you." He gave her an encouraging smile.

"That would be great!" she said.

They bowed to each other and Cleveland approached her and telegraphed a strike at her. She kept her speed just slightly above his and dodged his blow by a narrow margin. She dodged a few more of his strikes and then responded with some slow, telegraphed strikes of her own which he deflected easily.

After a few minutes of not being able to contact her, Cleveland frowned and sped up a little. Ranma kept her defensive speed just fast enough to avoid his strikes, but continued to make slow, telegraphed offensive speed.

Cleveland continued to up his speed and continued to miss her, by this time he was getting genuinely frustrated. She could hear some snickers from the crowd that was watching them.

"Finish it up, Saotome!" an older woman's voice growled.

Ranma giggled and then grabbed his arm and tossed him to the mat. She cocked an arm at his throat as he lay with his back on the mat.

"You were playing with me," Cleveland accused.

"Guilty as charged," Ranma admitted cheerfully. "Do you really think I would have been taken seriously if I would have just approached someone for a match?"

She reached down and gave him a hand up.

"Probably not," he admitted with a grumble.

"You all should know better than to judge a book by its cover," the older woman said. She was another redhead, although she had streaks of gray in her hair. Without prolong, Ranma would have pegged her as between 40 and 50, so she was probably twice that age. She was just barely shorter than Ranma's male form.

"I know, Gunny," he said.

Gunny was the title of the senior Marine non-com on a ship. It was a remnant of a rank that the RMMC no longer used.

"However," the other woman continued, "She was looking for someone to troll or she would have come in tomorrow, right, Ensign?"

Ranma laughed. She had seen the woman at her shape-changing briefing the other day. "That's right. With my unique situation, I've learned to get my laughs where I can." She looked over at Cleveland and said, "Thanks for humoring me, Sergeant. You've been a good sport."

Cleveland groaned. "Oh, you're _that_ new Ensign. I'm not likely to even get a sympathy date out of this am I?"

"Nope," Ranma said with a smile, "but for being a good sport, I'll buy you a drink on one of my 'boy days' when we have leave next."

Ranma was not a heavy drinker. She had made a decision to avoid her father's vices. She avoided it completely as a woman, because at 40 kilograms she was too much of a lightweight. Her male body could handle alcohol better, but still not very well. Since she hated losing control, she always nursed a single drink and stopped after one.

"Alright, alright," he said.

"Interested in seeing if youth and exuberance can beat old age and treachery?" Gunny asked.

Ranma doubted if Gunny's old age _or_ treachery matched that of Cologne or Happosai, but she was always up for a challenge.

"I'm always up for a challenge, Ms?" Ranma said.

"Sergeant Major Babcock," she replied, "but to these guys, I'm Gunny."

"Ensign Ranma Saotome, but I'm sure you already knew that," Ranma said. "Pleased to meet another redhead."

They bowed and the fight began. Babcock was much faster and more skilled than Cleveland. She was also sneaky, but not to the extent that Ranma's father had been. Ranma kept her speed just above the other woman's to make the fight more interesting. She dodged, deflected, and blocked Babcock's strikes. She limited her own strikes, since no one in this future could soak them up like Ryouga could.

Finally after ten minutes, Ranma ended the fight by throwing Babcock out of the ring.

"You were playing with me too," Babcock said with a frown.

"I was, but not in the way you mean," Ranma said seriously. "Over ten years of my life was spent on nothing but martial arts. Even since then, I spend a lot of my free time training. I haven't met anyone in the Star Kingdom who has had the type of training I have. You're quite skilled and I picked up a few good tricks from you, but more than anything I had fun. I can tell you had fun too, despite your frustration."

"Yeah, I had fun," Babcock said. "We'll have to do this again. Usually only the Captain gives me this good of a workout."

Ranma arched an eyebrow. "Captain Harrington is a martial arts aficionado?"

Babcock nodded. "She's quite good. Coup de Vitesse was designed for people with her body type."

"Who's better between the two of you?" Ranma asked with a grin.

Babcock smirked. "You'll just have to wait and see."

"I look forward to it," Ranma said.

* * *

 _Fearless_ took on a VIP, retired Admiral Raoul Courvosier, and left Sphinx orbit to meet up with a merchant convoy bound for the Casca System and three other RMN ships. Couvosier was going to be dropped off on the planet Grayson in the Yeltsin System as part of a diplomatic mission to gain allies for the Star Kingdom. Unofficially, the _Fearless_ and her squadron mates were there to show the flag and impress Grayson.

Grayson was more interesting to Ranma than Casca, since Casca was a routine stop for Manticoran ships despite it professing neutrality in the potential conflict between Manticore and Haven. Grayson had little contact with the rest of the Galaxy and _Fearless's_ data net had little on Yeltsin's Star or Grayson other than the fact that it was a parliamentary monarchy with a theocratic slant, its official name was the Protectorate of Grayson, its monarch's title was Protector, and that the _did not_ get along with their neighbors on Masada in the Endicott System. The Lords of Admiralty wanted an ally out of either Grayson or Masada. Ranma had heard rumors that Grayson was horribly backwards, especially in how they treated women, but that Masada was a hundred times worse.

The day they left the Manticore System, Ranma received a notice through the data net to attend a briefing in the gym. He was mildly surprised to find himself the only male in the room. The RMN was very "equal rights"—as was Manticore in general. Unlike the Japan of his birth, woman could do pretty much any job and very little distinction was made. About a quarter to a third of the personnel on the ship were women and it looked like most, if not all, were in attendance.

Everyone in the room kept glancing at him as they waited for the meeting to start. Finally, he said, "I didn't realize it was this type of meeting or I would have changed."

His statement got some laughs, but the room silenced as the Captain walked in with Venizelos. Ranma was pleased to no longer be the only man in the room.

"I realize meeting like this is unusual," she said. "The RMN does not distinguish between the men and women in its ranks. Unfortunately, this is not true about our first stop on this deployment. I called this briefing to address my expectations about how we deal with the Graysons. I'll be asking the COs of the _Apollo_ , _Troubadour_ , and _Madrigal_ to make similar briefings."

She took a deep breath. "According to the briefing that Admiral Couvorsier gave me, Grayson is conservative to the point that women their have no legal rights." Grumblings murmured through the room. "Traditions and mores prevent women form being outright slaves like they are on Masada, but their culture will still seem oppressive to us.

"Now, expectations: please try to be helpful and understanding to any guests we may have on ship. Culture shock is almost always mutual. Above all, I want you to behave in your usual professional manner and represent the Queen with honor. We will not be hiding who we are and how the RMN works." A few of the women in the room looked at Ranma at this. "At the very least I would expect that some of their personnel will be rude—some of it may be intentional, but I would hope that it would be mostly unintentional. However, if you receive more than some minor unintentional rudeness, I want you to pass it up the chain of command. If you receive any actual physical harassment, I want you to immediately inform the Exec. Is everyone clear on this?"

Heads around the room nodded.

"Does anyone have any questions about Yeltsin's Star or Grayson?" she asked.

There were a few questions, mostly about why Grayson was so conservative. The Captain told them the little bit she knew about how Grayson was settled by a religious group fleeing the "evils of technology" pre-hyperspace using cryo-technology. When they arrived on Grayson they found it naturally contaminated with heavy metals and that they needed technology to survive. Eventually there was a schism between the "Faithful" and a more moderate group, with the extremists being banished to Masada.

After the questions, the Captain and XO left. Many of the others lingered.

Lieutenant Metzinger, the Communications Officer, turned to him and asked, "You going to hide as a man any time you run into the Graysons, Ensign Saotome?"

"Like I'd hide from a bunch of misogynists," Ranma said with a snort. "My old man was worse than they're likely to be."

"So you're willing to suffer with the rest of us?" the lieutenant asked with a smirk.

Ranma sighed. He had let himself run off his mouth again. Then he shrugged. It might be fun to mess with them if he were subtle about it. "Yeah, it won't be a problem."


	5. Chapter 3: From Dining to Sparring

Ranma sat at the table in the Captain's formal dining room. Most captains in the Royal Manitcoran Navy held regular formal dinners with their officers. Some of them only invited the senior officers, but Captain Harrington made it a practice to also invite the junior officers in rotation. Ranma was of the opinion that this was one of the signs of a good captain. As the most junior of the officers on the ship, she had made an effort to be among the first ones there. A new ensign could hardly afford to be late to anything, but especially not a formal dinner with a retired admiral attending. She had actually arrived first and the Captain's steward had given her an approving nod.

She watched the attendees arrive and take seats. They were a mixture of ship's officers and members of Admiral Courvosier's delegation. She noted that her end of the table, which contained the more junior officers and delegates, filled up more quickly. Finally, the Captain and the Admiral arrived at approximately the same time and took their seats. One of the mid-ranking delegates slid into place after them, slightly flushed.

The Captain caught her eye and tapped her glass. Ah, it was Ranma's turn to act. She had not been sure what the Captain's preference for the signal to perform the Loyalty Oath. As the most junior officer present, it fell to her by RMN tradition.

She stood. All eyes fell on her. "Ladies and gentlemen," she said strongly and raised her glass. Let it never be said that Ranma Saotome did not like attention. "The Queen!"

The rest of the attendees raised their glasses and proclaimed, "The Queen!"

The ritual competed, Ranma sat down. She noticed Admiral Courvosier lean over and whisper something to the Captain. He had the look of nostalgia about him. Houseman, the Admiral's second-in-command, and the lead economist in the delegation heard the Captain's response to the Admiral's comment and spoke up. Ranma recognized Houseman's type. He was an "Ivory Tower" academic that sneered at the military as a matter of doctrine.

Houseman stated that diplomacy was more important than strategy or tactics, while the Captain replied that the Navy got involved after diplomacy failed. Houseman referred to the writings of a pre-Diaspora soldier which the Captain then expounded on and drew from other military historians to back up her point.

The Captain essentially demolished Houseman, but he was like the academic equivalent of Kuno. While not incompetent in his chosen field, he attempted to punch way above his weight class and could not recognize defeat. Ranma could almost imagine him shouting, "I fight on!"

While Houseman was correct that in an ideal universe the military would not be necessary, he seemed to believe that _anyone_ could be talked into rationally pursuing economic trade in order to better their situation. The ironic thing was that his beliefs would be proven incorrect the first time he ran into someone as pigheaded as he was.

Houseman liked to play at being a historian, but as Captain Harrington, who appeared to be a real amateur historian, showed, history is full of people who "acted against their own best interest" to pursue war and terror. Most of the table looked at Houseman as if he had sprouted a second head when he implied that Grayson and Masada would lay down their arms, if only the military did not muck things up.

Ranma would like to have joined in, especially since several of the sources, the Captain referred to were from close to her birth era, or were still popular then like Sun Tzu. Even her Pop had not thought Sun Tzu was a waste of time. However, she was a lowly ensign and they did not break into conversations with captains and senior diplomats if they knew what was good for them. Instead she listened and responded when her neighbors asked her questions.

* * *

Ranma's fingers flew over the console. He was at the main tactics station, directing missile fire onto the two asteroids that housed the Endicott system's outer defensive stations. They knew from the Graysons' intelligence reports that the asteroid belt hid light attack craft. The emplacements had launched missiles at them when they had approached the belt in order to scan for craft. Midshipwoman Esther Rosenberg sat beside him at the other tactics station controlling _Fearless's_ defenses. That was the seat that Ranma actually preferred because he was an adrenaline junkie, unless they were in energy range. However, current RMN doctrine favored missile engagements over close-range energy duels with lasers and grasers.

Rosenberg shot him a glance and he smiled at her. She was doing a good job with the counter missiles. Not that the Masadans were giving them much of a challenge.

The first salvo of Ranma's missiles reached the asteroid emplacements and detonated at the appropriate standoff and x-ray lasers punched through the walls of the emplacements. He kept an eye on the chronometer. The second salvo hit the asteroids. The Masadans had been launching every 20 seconds, but it had been 30 since their last launch.

"I think the emplacements are done, Sir," he said. "They're over 10 seconds late according to their previous pattern."

"Keep alert, Saotome," Harris replied. "They may be playing possum."

Ranma nodded. Even though they hugely outmatched the Masadans, there was no reason to play it stupid. As the third salvo impacted the asteroids, an alert flashed over his console as about a dozen new gravity sources lit up inside the belt.

"I've got 11 LAC impeller signatures near the edge of the asteroid field," he said as they started to move toward the _Fearless_. "They must have been on standby. They're moving toward us in a rough formation four across and three deep."

"Light them up, Saotome," Harris said. "One row at a time."

Conventional wisdom said that you concentrated your fire, but light attack craft lacked sidewalls to protect them and even their impeller bands were weak protection compared to a heavy cruiser like the _Fearless._ The _Fearless_ , like its sister Star Knight cruisers, carried 12 missile launchers in its broadside. Against the Masadan LACs, three missiles each should be more than enough, seeing as they were expected to have very little, if any, electronic countermeasures or other active defenses.

"Missile launch!" he called out as 33 missiles leapt from the charging LACs. "Twenty seconds to range." According to the Graysons, a typical Masadan LAC had 24 single-launch missile cells. Their fire control, however limited them to three at a time.

Rosenberg launched their first set of eight counter missiles as Ranma was preparing to launch their second salvo at the Masadans. The Manticoran missiles had greater acceleration, so they reached the Masadans first. Ranma's sensors reported impeller failures in all four of his targets. He smirked. Seconds later the Masadan's salvo came in range of Rosenberg's counter missiles. She had managed to get two salvos of counter missiles in. The first set she had launched had accelerated more slowly at first so that they hit the Masadan missiles in mass. The Manticoran missiles picked off 10 of the Masadans' 33 and a further 8 lost lock. Rosenberg's fingers flew over her console as she tweaked the computer's point-defense programming.

The remaining 7 LACs launched another 21 missiles as Ranma prepared to launch his third and final salvo. If any remained after that, they would be within energy range. As soon as Ranma launched his broadside, the ship rolled in order to interpose its impeller wedge to the Masadan missiles. While normally a Star Knight heavy cruiser would not fear LACS, the Masadans had managed to gather a relatively impressive number of them. Of the remaining 15 missiles, 8 of them wasted themselves against the impenetrable impeller band of the _Fearless's_ belly. Point-defense lasers picked off all but one of the remaining. The last missile detonated and its bomb-powered lasers punched into the sidewall of the _Fearless_ only to be deflected just enough to miss the ship itself. Rosenberg sighed in relief.

Ranma's second salvo reached the Masadans as the _Fearless_ rolled back around to be able to get good sensor readings on the LACs and to be able to fire as needed. This time one of the LACs survived. "One LAC from the second row survives, Sir," he informed Harris.

"We'll get it with energy weapons when they enter our envelop," Harris replied.

In space, there was no "turning on a yen" as he would have said in his youth. Changing direction required acceleration and bleeding off velocity in a specific direction took time.

Rosenberg's counter missiles picked off 11 of the second salvo of Masadan missiles and 6 of them lost lock. The remaining four were easily picked off by the point-defense lasers. Harris did not bother to roll the ship this time as he wanted to get a good shot at the remaining LAC of the second row as it flew by.

Ranma's third salvo picked off the three LACs of the third row. He watched his display to see what the last LAC was doing. "It's vectoring toward us!" he exclaimed. "I think it wants to ram!"

"Fire when you have a good shot, Saotome," Harris said.

"Yes, sir."

The LAC was coming in at them straight as an arrow, with very little evasion attempted. Ranma quite easily blew it out of space with his grasers.

"Good work, everyone," Harris said. "This ends the simulation."

The simulation was mainly for the benefit of the three middies, but Lieutenant Harris had asked several of the junior officers to participate in order to fill all the slots in the auxiliary bridge. As the Assistant Tactical Officer, Harris was the primary trainer for the Midshipmen. Captain Harrington was very much in favor of her crew running simulations to keep sharp, so it was a no-brainer to help out.

"Does the Captain or the Admiral think this is the type of situation we can run into out here?" asked Midshipman Hernandez, who had been running Communications during the drill.

"I did run the scenario by the Captain and she said it was plausible," Harris replied.

"The Masadans would really try and kamikaze a RMN ship?" asked Holtz, the Midshipman who had been at Astrogation asked.

Ranma frowned. He disliked that practically the only Japanese word other than a few martial arts terms to make it into Manticoran English was used in such a derogatory fashion. Some of his classmates had had great uncles or even grandfathers who had been kamikaze pilots. It had not been super common, but common enough that pretty much everyone knew several people who had a relative that had been one. Like most Japanese of his generation, he was proud of the courage, skill, and victories of his people during the Second World War, while at the same time embarrassed and ashamed of the atrocities committed.

"All the reports we've gotten on the Masadans indicate that a large proportion of them are highly fanatical," Harris replied. "Kamikaze attacks are not out of the realm of possibilities."

Holtz snorted in response.

"I would not disparage someone sacrificing themselves for their star nation, Midshipman," Ranma responded. "That is not the exclusive prerogative of fanatics. The RNM itself has the example of Commodore Saganami's last stand."

Harris nodded. "Ensign Saotome is correct. Our own Captain Harrington's defense of the Basilisk System was a near thing. The RNM has a tradition of courage and sacrifice, however, we would hope that none of you will need to pay that price—certainly not to _needlessly_ throw your lives away."

Lieutenant Harris moved on to discussing the things that they had done well and the things that might be improved.

* * *

Ranma examined the schedule for the gym on his datapad. Someone had scheduled time at 0400 every Monday, Wednesday, and Friday with gravity at Sphinxian levels and it was marked for martial arts. Sphinx's gravity was 1.35 times Earth standard. RMN ships were kept at Manticore standard gravity which was almost the same as Earth's at 1.01 G. There was a good chance that the one who had scheduled the time was the Captain since she was a Sphinxian and Gunny had told him she was a Coup de Vitesse aficionado. However, the time was marked "open" rather than "private," so he thought he would drop in and join whomever it was. Seeing as it was Tuesday, he would stop by tomorrow morning. _Training at Manticoran gravity levels is making you soft, Boy!_ ran through his mind with his father's voice and inflection. He snorted. His pop's mannerisms were a lot funnier now that they only existed in his memory.

* * *

Ranma arrived at the gym at 0358. The Manticore day lasted 22 hours and 27 minutes. The Sphinx day lasted 25 hours, 37 minutes, and 12 seconds. The Gryphon day lasted 22 hours, 42 minutes, and 36 seconds. As a compromise, the RMN used the standard "T-day" which had 24 hours for its clocks. This also had the advantage of syncing up the daily time with the "T-calendar" which was used to measure age or long periods of time, even on Manticore. The planetary calendars were only used in day-to-day life—for things measured in hours or less, while things that were measured in days or more tended to use the T-calendar—except for certain official functions like the anniversary of the landing on Manticore. Sphinxian school kids liked to complain about their longer school days that happened so that they did not fall behind due to their days lasting three hours longer than Manticore's and Gryphon's.

As she entered she felt the gravity jump up. The Captain turned away from the console. The treecat on her shoulder bleaked and she looked and saw Ranma.

"Ah, Ensign Saotome," she said. "I didn't see you come in or I would have given you a warning about the gravity increasing."

"It's not a problem, Captain," Ranma responded. "It's why I'm here. Training at Manticoran gravity is just not the same."

"Your records state that you came from Old Earth before you arrived on Sphinx," the Captain said. "Did you have a hard time adjusting?"

"I certainly noticed the difference," Ranma admitted, "but it didn't take me long to adjust." She did not mention that it only took moments due to her training, since she did not want the Captain to think she was a braggart.

Further conversation was interrupted by a new arrival. Ranma noticed that the Captain's treecat had noticed the arrival even before Ranma herself did. The new arrival was a tall, muscled black man wearing exercise clothes with the RMMC logo on the shirt.

"Hello, Sergeant Hardy," the Captain said.

The sergeant nodded to both of them. "Captain, Ensign." Evidently, he knew who she was. That was not really unexpected. With the way the rumor mill on ships worked, probably only the more clueless of the diplomatic mission had not heard of her and received a description of bother her forms.

"Sergeant," Ranma responded.

"Well, Captain," Hardy said. "With the Ensign here you won't be needing me."

Harrington gave Ranma an appraising look. "Have you sparred with Ensign Saotome then, Sergeant?"

"No, but I heard about her match with the Gunny," he responded.

"Oh, and how'd you do against Gunny Babcock?" Captain Harrington asked her.

Ranma gestured to Hardy. "I'm curious as to what the rumor mill says, if you don't mind, Sergeant."

"Rumor says that you won and that Gunny chastised you for playing with her," Hardy said.

Ranma shrugged. "Like I told the Gunny, if you're not having fun, then you're doing it wrong. No insult to Gunny Babcock, because she's very good, but the intensity of training I underwent means that no one I run into in the Services is likely to be able to keep up with me if I go full out. That's alright though, because I like to keep it at my opponent's level to keep things interesting."

"Well, if you can beat Gunny Babcock easily, I'm not likely to give you a challenge either, Ensign Saotome," the Captain said. "I have to say that I'm impressed that someone as young as you can manage it. As you said, Gunny Babcock is very good."

"She said the same about you, Ma'am," Ranma said with a smile. "As to my youth, I sacrificed a lot to get as good as I am by my age. Many would say that it wouldn't be worth it, but I do love the Art, so I can't complain too much."

Ranma and the Captain both began to warm up. Hardy sat down against the wall.

"I don't want to steal all your time, Sergeant," Ranma said. "Don't feel like you have to sit this out."

Hardy waved her off. "Don't worry about it, Ensign. I enjoy watching talented martial artists in action. I'll take my turn another day."

After they finished warming up, Ranma faced off against the Captain. As was her custom, Ranma let Harrington make the first move. She did not have to wait long, since as she had heard, the Captain favored Coup de Vitesse, which was a martial art that primarily consisted of direct strikes and taking the initiative and keeping it. She started off at the same level that she had used against Gunny Babcock since the Gunny had said that their skill level was comparable.

Ranma dodged a series of blows and then redirected one to get a feel for the Captain's strength. Sphinxians in general were stronger and faster than other people from the Star Kingdom due to growing up on a "heavy world." The effect varied for reasons that Ranma did not know. The Captain appeared to be on the upper end of the scale for her build, which was tall and athletic. Overall, the Captain was stronger and faster than the Gunny, which was mildly surprising since Babcock was stockier and more powerfully built, but the Marine non-com was more skilled, although only by a small amount. Still, if she were a gambling person, she would wager Babcock won more matches. As the match progressed she was surprised to find herself learning some new tricks from the Captain too. This pleased her, since she had no desire to serve under a Captain who only knew how to charge straight ahead.

Deciding to end the round, Ranma deflected a strike from Harrington hard enough to put her off balance and then put her on the mat with a leg sweep.

She walked over and gave the Captain a hand up. Harrington took it and levered herself up. The action should have pulled Ranma over due to her much shorter frame, but she powered her up with pure strength.

"You're much stronger than you look, Ensign," Harrington commented with a raised eyebrow.

"So are you, Captain," Ranma returned.

"I grew up on Sphinx," the Captain returned. "Are you sure you grew up on Pre-Diaspora Old Earth?"

Ranma laughed congenially and nodded. "It's all in the training."

"Gunny Babcock was right in that fighting you is both invigorating and infuriating," Captain Harrington said.

"Oh, so you did talk to the Gunny?" Ranma asked.

Harrington smiled. "You think martial artists don't gossip?"

Ranma laughed. "Oh, I certainly know that we do."

"I just wanted to see how you'd react going into the match if I played ignorant," the Captain said.

Ranma waved her off. "Did Gunny tell you what I did to Sergeant Cleveland?"

Harrington smiled at her. "She did." She glanced over at Hardy. "She approved. She said the boys needed to be kept on their toes."

Hardy laughed. "Cleveland was embarrassed, but appreciated that you didn't rub it in his face, Ensign."

"Ready to go again, Ensign?" Harrington asked.

"Yes, Ma'am," she replied.

"Can I call you Ranma, Ensign?" the Captain asked.

"Yes, Ma'am," she replied again. There was only one real response to that. In any military, you adapted to your superior's quirks unless they were against the Regs. Her limited observations of the Captain had indicated that she preferred to refer to her officers informally. Ranma preferred it that way too.

"Good," the Captain responded. "Call me Honor when we're off duty."

Ranma nodded. "Sure, Honor." On a ship, you were never _really_ completely off duty, but she would call the Captain by her given name in the gym, at least. Navigating though social niceties was like being in a fight with lots of strange rules and maneuvers. It had been hard for Ranma to understand that, but once she had it was not any different than any other style of fighting. She wished she had realized that back in Nerima. It would have made handling Nabiki and Cologne much easier.

The two of them bowed and began their second match.

* * *

 **Author's Note:** I wanted to update all my stories that hadn't been updated in almost a year, so have an update of _The Honor of the Wild Horse_ , formerly known as _The Mustang and the Salamander_. The reasons for the name change are on the previous chapter and/or first page.

The book this story is based on, _The Honor of the Queen_ , is available for free on the publisher's, Baen, website along with the first novel in the series, _On Basilisk Station_. Baen and Weber do this for promotional reasons. I'm pointing this out in case you want to read Honor's debate with Houseman which takes place at the beginning of Chapter Three. The incident is somewhat important to the plot of the original story. I thought it deserved to be mentioned since the character, Ranma is replacing, Wolcott, was present. However, I didn't think Ranma would change it and didn't want to repeat it word for word here, hence the summary.

Jumping into a simulation without explaining that it's a simulation is something Weber does every couple of books or so. I thought I'd do it here as a tribute of sorts, but wasn't attempting to really fool anyone, for one because Weber jumps around into minor character's PoVs which makes the trick a lot more believable which is something I don't intend to do.


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